Causes (Grounds)
for Exclusion Noted on BSI (Board of Special Inquiry) Lists,ca.
1903-1924

Immigrants detained faced only minor
obstacles to their admission. The most
commonly detained immigrants were women
traveling alone (or with her children),
destined to a husband, fiancé, or male
relative. These women could not be
admitted without assurance that someone
would care for and protect them. A woman
may have been held to wait for her
husband to come collect her, or to wait
until a response was received to a
telegram informing her husband or
relative of her arrival. Once it was
known someone expected her, she could be
sent forward via rail to her
destination. The "Cause of Detention" in
these cases usually reads "to husb[and],"
or to father, mother, sister, brother,
brother-in-law (b-i-l), uncle, etc.
Then, in the "Disposition" column, one
will read the name and address of the
person to whom the immigrant was
released, even if that person is at an
address far from Ellis Island. If this
information is preceded by the initials
"R.R.," it means the passenger was sent
forward via rail.

Often, immigrant aid
societies took charge of these women (or
children traveling alone) and guaranteed
immigration officials of the immigrants'
safe arrival at their proper
destination. In these cases, the person
to whom the immigrant was released may
be the name of the aid society, such as
"Hebrew Society," "Irish Home," etc.

Another common cause for
detention was an immigrant's lack of
tickets through to his or her final
destination. The cause listed in these
cases is typically "to Tel $," meaning a
telegram had been sent to their
relatives to send money for
transportation fare. Once received, the
immigrant was ticketed and released.

One will often see a time
noted at top or at various points down
the "Cause" column. This is the time of
day (on the date noted at the top of the
list) when the immigrant was detained.

The government also used the Record of
Detained Aliens to capture
administrative information. The
"Discharged" column showed the name or
initials of the Immigrant Inspector who
decided to release the immigrant, which
allowed for review of his work and
decisions. The date and time of
discharge not only recorded more
information about the disposition of the
individual case, but also contributed to
statistics covering the average length
of detention by cause, by nationality,
or by Inspector.

The "Meals" column shows
the number of breakfasts, lunches, and
dinners consumed by each detained
immigrant. This data was used to compute
the monthly bills to steamship
companies, who were responsible for the
detention expenses of each excludable
immigrant they brought to United States
ports of entry.

13(c

Aliens ineligible to
citizenship (after 1924)

ACC

Accompanying (an alien
accompanying another alien
who has been excluded)